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Perkins Koy, a US law firm, has become the latest legal counsel facing actions by Donald Trump. The president has signed an executive order that halts security clearance for employees and enforces review of government contracts.
The order, released Thursday, said the representative of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton Perkins Koy against Trump in the 2016 presidential election resulted in “false ‘documents'” designed to steal the election. The order also denounced the company for racism against employees.
Last month, Trump signed a similar order against US law firm Covington & Burling, and suspended clearance for the company’s employees who supported Jack Smith, the special adviser who led two criminal cases against Trump.
The Perkins Coie order is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to eliminate diversity efforts from the US government. The president argued that his predecessor had committed to enforcing “illegal and immoral” discrimination programs under the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) banner and ending such initiatives.
Perkins Coie previously fired fire in connection with DEI’s work when conservative campaigner Edward Blum sued the company in 2023. The architect of the Supreme Court victory over positive actions at US universities, Blum targeted the recruitment practices of law firms, leading to many to reduce Dei Schemes.
“Perkins Koy racially discriminates against its own lawyers, staff and applicants,” the Trump Order said. “Perkins Coie publicly announced its percentage allocation in 2019 for employment and promotion based on race and other categories prohibited by civil rights law.”
The order said the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee chair would “examine representative, influence or industry-leading law firm practices” for consistency with civil rights law.
The review includes a look into whether large law firms such as Summer Semispots will reserve status such as Summer Associate Spots for individuals who have been promoted “discriminately” promoted, Trump said.
Perkins Coie said he received the executive order and called it “patently illegal.”
“We’re going to try that,” the company said.
Covington said the company agreed to work on Smith’s defense when it was revealed that it would face a government investigation.
“Covington is serving as Jack Smith’s lawyer for his personal abilities,” the company said. “We look forward to defending Mr. Smith’s interests and we are grateful for the trust he has placed in us to do so.”
Trump’s actions against DEI have led many top companies and consulting companies to abandon their diversity programs. KPMG US pulled long-standing DEI reports from its website, but Deloitte US asked employees working on a government contract to remove gender pronouns from email signatures.
